Laura Ann Branigan was born July 3, 1952 and passed August 26, 2004. When the pop singer Laura Branigan died, The Associated Press, relying on information from her management company, reported in an obituary on Aug. 28, 2004, that she was 47 and had been born on July 3, 1957. After being contacted recently by one of Branigan’s fans, however, the AP conducted a thorough review and established that she had actually been 52 when she died. School records, newspaper articles written about her in the 1950s and 1960s, and testimonials from childhood friends all indicate she was born in 1952. Born in Armonk New York, (not Brewster as has been reported) Branigan showed an interest in performance from a young age, attending the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan as a teen. After graduating, she got her big break as backing vocalist for Leonard Cohen’s 1977 european tour, ultimately signing to Atlantic Records via the label’s founder Ahmet Ertegun as a solo artist in the early 80s. “I first heard Laura Branigan sing live in my brother Nesuhi’s apartment,” said Ertegun during a 2005 interview. “I immediately realised that she had a great pop voice, in the classical sense. Laura had an instinctive feel for music and melody and her delivery was sensational.” She was definitely an '80's pop star appealing to the disco, dance, and burgeoning gay club crowds, particularly in Germany. Altogether she produced 8 albums. Her first self-titled album Branigan was released in 1982, including her first songwriting venture – I Wish We Could Be Alone – and the single Gloria, which spent 36 weeks in the chart. The English-spoken version of Gloria gained Branigan a Grammy Nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. "Gloria", an Italian love song recorded in 1979 by Umberto Tozzi and successful in several European countries, was released as the album's second single. Branigan's version was reworked with Tozzi's own arranger, Greg Mathieson, who updated its production with fellow producer Jack White to give it what Branigan called "an American kick" to match the new English lyrics. U.S. radio stations were initially unreceptive to "Gloria" but after it was embraced by dance clubs it eventually won them over, becoming one of the biggest hits of the 1980s. The album went gold, and the single was eventually certified platinum (sales of more than two million U.S. copies). Two years later, she was to release her third studio album Self-Control, containing a second Umberto Tozzi cover, Ti Amo and an original hit Satisfaction. The year 1984 was the height of the European synthpop era, and "Self Control", the title track of Branigan's third album, released in April 1984 became her biggest hit internationally, topping the charts in over six countries, most notably West Germany, where it spent six weeks at No. 1. The original version was recorded a few months earlier in 1984 by one of the song's co-writers Raffaele Riefoli under the name "Raf" held the West German number 2 spot during this time period; outside of Raf's native Italy, Branigan's version enjoyed more success, hitting No. 4 in the U.S. The video was banned by MTV, as it was deemed too sexually charged. [Here](https://tube.poal.co/watch?v=miGUnKWcYeo) is the video and I'm guessing the alluded rape-fantasy bit towards the end is what they didn't like, but that's just my guess. Her output slowed in the '90s, and in the '00s she took stage work, starring as Janis Joplin in the 2002 off-Broadway musical Love, Janis. she performed twice as the "singing" Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway musical, before dropping out of the show. "I left Janis because the producers failed to file with Equity properly," she told the Sunday News in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. "I was sort of relieved. My voice isn't anything like Janis Joplin's, and there were 19 of her songs in the show." In later years she continued to record, and dated the drummer in her band Tommy Bayiokos. ------- In 1972 she met acoustic guitarist Walker Daniels and his future wife Sharon Storm, and acoustic guitarist Chris Van Cleave, forming the folk-rock band Meadow. In 1973 the group, with bass player Bob Valdez, released their debut album The Friend Ship. The record was not properly promoted and never re-released. The band broke up, after which Walker Daniels committed suicide. Branigan preferred not to discuss her involvement with Meadow publicly. In 1994, not long after the release of Over My Heart, Larry Kruteck, Branigan's husband (m. 1978), was diagnosed with colon cancer. Branigan refused to accept the medical prognosis, and left the music industry to devote her attention to him. Branigan put Kruteck on herbal treatments, eventually nursing him full time. Kruteck survived for another two and a half years and died on June 15, 1996 in New York. In early 2001 Branigan's return to the stage was postponed, when she broke both of her femurs in a 10-foot fall from a ladder while she was hanging wisteria outside her three-bedroom lakeside home in Westchester County, New York, resulting in physical therapy for six months. Branigan died in her sleep at her lodge in East Quogue, New York, on August 26, 2004. The cause was attributed to a previously-undiagnosed ventricular brain aneurysm. It was reported in the media that she had been experiencing headaches for several weeks before her death, but did not seek medical attention and died in her sleep. Her ashes were scattered over Long Island Sound. (Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to prescribe myself 2 Led Zeppelins, 1 Stones, and a few Aerosmiths :) ).